//------------------------------// // New Town, New Duel // Story: Let's Duel! // by Snake Staff //------------------------------// Many years later… “Twilight?” a voice called out. “Hey, Twilight?” The young woman in question was presently sitting behind a desk, cards laid out in front of her and a book propped open to the side. A computer screen shone brightly in the dimly-lit study, plastered with an image of an opposing duelist’s field. In spite of the privacy, Twilight’s appearance was immaculate, with an indigo sweater vest over a white collared shirt and black tie, complete with a long purple skirt. “Yes Spike?” she called back. “What is it?” Turning her head back to the computer, she flipped one of her face-down cards up. “In response to your attack I activate my Mirror Force, destroying all monsters on your side of the field in attack position.” In response, the computer showed all three of its monster cards being removed from the field. It put one card face-down in its Spell/Trap zone, and ended its turn. “Can I come in?” Spike yelled up at her. “It’s a bit important!” “Of course,” Twilight answered him, idly drawing a card. “I play my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face-down card. Finally, my Dark Red Enchanter attacks your life points directly, ending the duel!” The computer player’s life counter dropped to 0 at around the same time that the door to Twilight’s study burst open. In came a smaller boy in purple, with green hair. This was Spike, a younger student at Celestia’s Duel Academy whom Twilight had been assigned to mentor years ago. He looked a little out of breath from running all the way up the many flights of stairs to this level. “What is it, Spike?” Twilight got up from her seat. “What’s the matter?” “It’s Celestia.” Twilight’s eyes widened, and she seemed to stand up a little straighter. “She wanted to talk to you as soon as you could.” “Tell her I’m on my way! Right now!” Twilight was already hurriedly scooping her cards off the desk and into her duel disk. She snapped the machine onto her left wrist and ran out the door in a wild blur of motion. Spike was left spinning in her wake. “Uh…” he scratched his head, looking down the already-empty stairway. “I think you’ll be telling her yourself.” A few minutes later, Celestia heard a soft knocking at her office door. The princess looked up from the paperwork she had been going over. “By all means, come in,” she said. The rainbow-haired woman smiled warmly when the door opened to reveal her personal protégé and Duel Academy’s top-ranked student. Twilight looked a little flush from her sprint across the campus and Celestia could make out a few beads of sweat trickling down her forehead. She couldn’t but chuckle slightly. “Twilight, I’ve told you hundred times, there’s no need to rush on my behalf. If it’s urgent, I’ll let you know.” “437 times, actually,” Twilight corrected automatically. It took her just a second to realize what she’d done, whereupon she blushed a little and looked down at her feet. For her part, Celestia simply chuckled again and beckoned her student inside with a motherly smile. “Please,” she said. “Have a seat. Would you care for something to drink?” “No thank you, princess,” Twilight replied, sitting ramrod straight in one of the chairs across Celestia’s desk. “What is it you needed to talk to me about?” “Twilight…” Celestia’s face looked a little weary, though no less pleasant. “I’ve told you before you can call me Celestia. And do relax a little. Too much tension is bad for your health.” “Of course, princess,” Twilight remained sitting at attention. Celestia sighed a little. “If you want to go straight to business, I’ll oblige. I’ve been getting reports that you’ve been spending even more time than usual in simulators these past few weeks. My teachers report that they barely see you in the arena anymore. Would you kindly explain?” “Of course!” Twilight nodded. “You see, princess, I’ve been doing some calculations and I’ve determined that my skills are better honed by computer opponents than the present array of organic opposition.” “Organic opposition?” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “That is an odd way of referring to your fellow students – and my employees, for that matter.” “I’m sorry!” Twilight scratched the back of her head, blushing a little. “It’s just that… well, I’ve beaten everyone at the academy. Multiple times. The teachers included. Except you, of course!” she added quickly. “So you think that you’ve learned all that you can from them?” Celestia took a sip from her teacup. “Well…” Twilight hesitated. “To speak frankly, yes. Also I kind of…” she rubbed her shoulder. “Felt a little guilty after my few opponents started to break down and cry or scream. Computers don’t do that.” “I suppose that is a somewhat admirable motive to cease your public dueling.” Celestia took another small sip. “Though I am inclined to believe they would probably have cried less if you had refrained from detailing exactly what they did wrong. On every single turn, if what I’ve read is true.” “I was only trying to help them…” Twilight looked down at her hands, folded across her lap. Celestia put a finger underneath her student’s chin and gently pushed it back up, so that they were eye-to-eye again. The Princess of Games was wearing a soft, almost maternal expression. “I know that you didn’t mean any harm by it. But I don’t think shutting yourself away even further than usual is a good solution, my faithful student.” she folded her hands together on her desk. “Then… what do you think I should do, princess?” “Hmmm…” Celestia tapped her chin lightly, though she was already wearing another smile on her face. And at that very moment, the door to the princess’ office swung open again. Twilight jumped slightly at the noise, but Celestia looked, if anything, pleased to be interrupted. “Hey Celestia! Hey Twilight!” came the sound of Spike’s voice as he casually invited himself in, taking a seat beside her tutor and across from the princess. “Spike!” Twilight berated. “What have I told you about being patient?! And showing respect for superiors?!” “Oh, it’s quite alright,” Celestia brushed it off. “As a matter of fact this concerns him as well, so I asked him to come with you. Though I didn’t think that you’d get here so far ahead of him. Live and learn, I suppose.” Twilight said nothing, but gave Spike a sharp glance out of the corner of her eye. Spike grinned feebly and waved a little. His tutor glared, and he opted to sit back and fold his hands into his lap. “Now then,” Celestia continued. “I had wanted to speak to the both of you because I had a special assignment that I wanted you to do for me.” “A special assignment?!” Twilight somehow managed to sit up even straighter. “Of course we’ll do it! Anything you need!” “While I appreciate your enthusiasm, my student, you needn’t be so obsequious about it,” Celestia frowned slightly. “Regardless, there is a little event in a few days’ time celebrating the upcoming summer solstice in Ponyville. I wanted your assistance in making certain everything was ready there before I make my appearance. And I thought a change in scenery might do you some good, Twilight.” “Ponyville?” Spike spoke up. “Who names a town Ponyville?” “Ponyville is primarily an agricultural settlement with an historical ‘frontier’ character,” Twilight explained from memory. “In this specific case some of their most famous and profitable exports have been well-bred ponies connected to the founding Apple family. The town was dedicated in the creatures’ honor 53 years ago.” “Exactly,” Celestia beamed at her student. “I want the two of you to pay this little town a visit. It’s only an hour’s train ride from here, and I’ve already made arrangements for your accommodation. I want you to check in on all the preparations for the event and the tournament that they’ll be holding. And while you’re there, Twilight, I have a special request for you.” “What is it, princess?” “Please do some dueling. With actual flesh and blood opponents, if you wouldn’t mind. I think it’ll do you some good.” “Of course, princess,” Twilight bowed her head. “Will that be all?” Celestia sighed. “I believe so.” She reached into a desk draw, and extracted a pair of tickets, which she handed to Twilight. “Your train leaves in two hours. Your residence is listed here, as are the details of the event you’ll be overseeing preparations for.” Celestia gave her student a few sheets of paper. “I’m on it, princess!” Twilight declared as she rose to her feet. “Don’t you worry, everything in Ponyville will be perfect for your visit even if I have to do it all myself!” Celestia nodded slightly, and Twilight turned on a dime. Folding the paper up and slipping it into one of her vest pockets, she started for the door. Spike hopped out of his own chair and made to follow. It was just as her hand touched the knob that Celestia’s voice gave her pause. “Oh, and Twilight?” She turned back to her mentor. “Yes?” Celestia’s smile contained the faintest hint of weariness. “Do try and make some friends.” A few hours later Twilight sat idly in a train car as the countryside raced by. Just a few feet away there was a duel ongoing, holographic monsters provided an impromptu free floor show. Spike was watching it eagerly, but Twilight found it difficult to keep her eyes on the two. One man had two cards face-down and no monsters, while the other had one monster on the field and nothing else. “My move!” yelled the man with the monster, drawing a card. Don’t attack without clearing his field, Twilight thought. It’s an obvious trap, you’d have to be a moron not to- “Gearfried the Iron Knight, attack his life points directly!” The powerful black-armored raised its sword arm and charged the opponent with blade held high. “Just what I was waiting for!” the man grinned, pressing one button on his disk. “Reveal face-down card, Ring of Destruction!” Gearfried halted mid-step as an enormous collar fixen itself around his neck. The monster cried out in alarm as several gigantic red bombs attached to it. “My Ring of Destruction will destroy your monster and inflict damage to your life points equal to its 1800 attack points! But I’ll be perfectly safe, thanks to my Ring of Defense, which prevents the same from happening to me!” His other face-down card rose, revealing another ring with a quartet of rotating green fan blades. As the explosives about Gearfried’s neck detonated in a fiery burst, the green blades shielded their owner from the fires. The other man wasn’t so lucky. “Hah!” the safe man gloated. “Now you’re the one with no defense!” Twilight looked away, bored, as the duel continued. Dueling was everywhere in the world, it was just a fact of life. It had been that way for centuries, ever since the game had taken off. It had been discovered that the game emitted powerful energies when played, which fueled the strength of magic-users. And then an even more remarkable find had been made, providing the key to a seemingly-boundless supply of energy. For whenever two duelists clashed in the game, they released a kind of spiritual fuel that could be harnessed by machines. One could power everything from houses to trains to motorcycles with this energy. And so, they did. But that didn’t mean that all duels were particularly interesting to watch. Twilight sat back against her seat and closed her eyes, wishing that she’d thought not to pack all her reading material into her suitcase. Her suitcase presently securely locked in a luggage compartment. When Twilight and Spike stepped off of the train at Ponyville Station a little while later, the former was quite relieved. The latter, not so much. “That was so cool, Twilight! Did you see how that Jinzo completely creamed his Rocket Warrior?! And blew up all those traps with his laser eyes?!” Spike pumped a fist as they walked out the station’s exit. “Awesome!” “Yeah, Spike, I saw,” she did her best to smile. In truth she thought the man a rank amateur who pulled through by luck. But she didn’t want to rain on her pupil’s parade – especially not after what Celestia had said. “It was pretty cool.” “Yeah!” Spike’s eyes were gleaming. “I wonder what other neat cards we’ll see while we’re here.” Probably not many, Twilight thought. This Ponyville looked exactly as her data suggested that it would: small, homey, and with a distinctly rural feel to much of it. It was a town that wore its frontier heritage proudly, and there was nothing wrong with that, but it meant they weren’t likely to have access to the rare and powerful cards one could find back in the Duel Academy in Canterlot. She didn’t want to seem elitist, but Twilight suspected that there wouldn’t be too many duelists of note out here. Aloud, she replied. “I’m sure that we’ll run into someone sooner or- ooph!” Twilight’s progress halted as she ran smack into something mid-step. She tumbled over backwards with a slight squeal, hitting the ground roughly. Spike hurried over to her as she sat up, rubbing her behind. “Twilight!” he implored. “Are you alright?! Speak to me!” “I’m… fine, Spike,” she rubbed her head. “I-” “Whoops! Sorry about that!” a high-pitched voice interrupted. Twilight looked up from where she sat to find another figure looming over her. It was a girl apparently around her age with extremely puffy pink hair. She wore a light pink t-shirt with a three balloon motif in the center, a darker pink skirt, and long blue and yellow stockings extending well past her knees. A duel disk was clasped to her left arm. Her face wore a friendly smile. “I had a feeling I’d run into someone new around here today,” she said as she offered Twilight her hand. “I didn’t know it’d be so literal!” Twilight accepted the hand, the girl hauled her back onto her feet. “Hi there, I’m Pinkie Pie!” the girl said as Twilight brushed dirt off of herself. “I know everyone around town, so I know that you must be new here! What’s your name?” “I’m Twilight Sparkle.” “And I’m Spike.” “Great to meet ya!” Pinkie shook both their hands enthusiastically. “What brings you two out here to Ponyville? You here for the big solstice celebration next week?” “Actually, we are,” Twilight extracted her hand from Pinkie’s with some difficulty. “Princess Celestia sent us to check in on preparations and make sure that everything’s ready in time for her visit.” “Wow! The princess herself sent you?! Then you two must students at the Duel Academy, right?” “You bet we are!” Spike answered before Twilight could. “In fact, Twilight there is the hand-picked student of the Princess of Games herself!” Pinkie’s jaw dropped a bit. “Really?! You’re really Celestia’s student?” “Um…” Twilight scratched the back of her head, a little flush. “Yeah. I am.” “Wow!” Pinkie grinned broadly. “What’s it like?! What does she teach you?! How many duelists have you beat?! How did you earn that?! Is it true she has a secret vault filled with secret cards of untamable power?!” “I…” Twilight blinked. “Wait, what?” “Oooooh! Oooooh! Never mind all that! I just got the most super-splenderific idea! We should duel!” “Duel? I don’t know, Pinkie. I just got here I wouldn’t want to-” “Come on! Pleeeeeease?” Pinkie clasped her hands together, eyes wide and watery. “It’ll be so much dueling against the princess’ student! And I promise that once you see my deck you’ll have a blast too! Everyone wins!” “Well I don’t…” Twilight hesitated. “Come on, Twilight!” Spike urged. “It’ll be fun to see what cards they have out here!” “I’m just not sure if-” “Pleeeeeeease?” Pinkie and Spike begged simultaneously. “Oh…” Twilight remembered Celestia’s words. “Alright, fine. I’ll duel you.” “Yay!” both cheered. “Oooh, follow me!” Pinkie grabbed Twilight by the wrist. “I know the perfect spot!” A few minutes and a good deal of running later, Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie stood in front of what looked for all the world like a building made from a tree. What kind of magic made something like that possible, Twilight didn’t know. But she thought that it might make for an interesting research topic when she wanted some light reading. “I’ve got a really good feeling about this place!” said Pinkie. “Something tells me that dueling you here is a good idea! Plus, no one lives here, so no one will be bothered by this!” “I’m fine with that,” Twilight answered, her duel disk snapping into readiness in a single gesture. “Are you sure you want to go through with this, though?” “Definitely!” Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. Her own duel disk snapped into place. Both machines wirelessly synced to one another in an instant. Each one launched two small devices out of either side – portable hologram projectors, enabling the full dueling experience absolutely anywhere. Twilight and Pinkie each shuffled their respective decks, while their life point counters climbed to 4000. “Let’s duel!” both cried at once. Both players drew five cards apiece for their starting hands. “Since I’m the guest here, I get to go first!” Twilight declared, drawing one more card. “Fine by me,” Pinkie shrugged. Twilight glanced down at what she had just drawn. She winced a little inside. It was a good card, no doubt, even one of her favorites. But it was much too powerful to just slam down against some happy-go-lucky village girl. I don’t want to beat her too badly, she thought. Instead, Twilight plucked a different card from her hand and placed it onto the Monster zone. “I summon Defender, the Magical Knight! In defense mode!” A powerful-looking knight in blue armor took shape on her side of the field. He got to one knee behind an immense blue and gold shield, his sword sheathed at his hip. Twilight smiled a little to see him again. The card had been a gift from her big brother, Shining Armor. “Whenever he’s Normal Summoned like that, I can place one Spell Counter on him!” A gem on the knight’s armor lit up. “And while he protects my life points, I’ll protect him with two cards face-down!” Two cards appeared behind her monster. “That’s all for now.” “Alright,” Pinkie said, reaching for her own deck and drawing a card. When she looked at it, her eyes went wide. The girl’s mouth formed into one of the biggest grins Twilight had ever seen. “Get a good card?” she asked, trying to sound friendly. “Oh boy did I ever!” Pinkie jumped up and down on the spot. “Get ready, because we’re about to enter into a world of whimsy! A world of excitement! A world where the fun never stops!” What could she mean? Twilight wondered. “That’s right!” Pinkie grinned even wider as she slipped the card into her disk. “A World of Toons!” Pinkie 3000 Even as Pinkie’s life point counter dropped, a portal appeared in the ground in front of her. Out of that vortex rose a spinning green book that burst open in a wild shower of confetti and pink smoke. A cartoonish castle complete with little gravestones popped up from its pages as a wild music seemed to emanate from the card. Pinkie folded her arms and smiled as the book descended to hover in front of her. I know that card, Twilight realized. Toons were rare and powerful monsters seldom seen these days. She’d read about them back home, but never actually seen any until that moment. Some stories had it that the cards had been favored by the legendary creator of duel monsters, Maximillion Pegasus himself. Of course, those records were spotty and incomplete, being centuries old. Nonetheless, seeing it here was certainly a surprise. “And because you have a monster and I don’t, I can Special Summon my Toon Cyber Dragon directly from my hand!” Pinkie added another card. “And to keep him company, I’ll Normal Summon my Toon Gemini Elf! Both in attack mode!” Toon World shut itself, spun around and up into the air, and then burst open again with even more pink smoke. Three figures tumbled out – one long cartoonish serpentine dragon, and a pair of bizarrely-proportioned elf women in minidresses. They took up position on Pinkie’s side of the field, giving Twilight insanely large grins. She summoned monsters with enough attack to destroy my life points in a single turn, Twilight realized with a start. Maybe I underestimated her. “Now, my Toons can’t attack the same turn they’re summoned,” Pinkie continued. “So I’ll just place this one card face-down and end my turn.” “My move!” Twilight drew another card. Let’s see… she looked at her hand. I still don’t want to use my trump card, but I don’t have anything in my hand strong enough to overpower her monsters, so… “I reveal my face-down card, Mystical Space Typhoon!” Twilight gestured. “It destroys one Spell or Trap card on your side of the field! And I choose to send my typhoon right at your Toon World!” The Spell Card swung upwards, launching a whirling tornado across the field towards the floating book. “Sorry!” Pinkie grinned, pressing a button. “Where’s the fun in letting that happen? I activate my face-down card, Magic Jammer!” The Trap Card swung upwards, revealing an image of purple smoke leaking from a magic circle. “For a bargain price of one card from my hand, I negate the activation of your card and destroy it!” Pinkie discarded one card, and purple energy shot out of her card. It raced across the field, dispelling Twilight’s tornado and shattering her Spell Card. But even as she shielded her face against the explosion, inside Twilight was smiling. Now that I’ve revealed her Trap Card, I know her monsters have no protection! So that means… “Fine! I summon Royal Magical Library in defense mode and place one more card face-down!” Towering bookshelves shot out of the ground behind Twilight and her knight, easily reaching the height of the tree building beside them. “Your move!” “Thanks!” answered Pinkie, drawing another card. “I play Card of Sanctity, forcing us both to draw until we have six cards in our hands!” she reached into her deck, slipping five additional cards into her hand. Twilight took four for herself. “Now then,” Pinkie continued. “I’ll use my Toons’ special abilities to bypass your monsters and attack your life points directly! Toon Cyber Dragon, you’re up to bat!” The robotic dragon surged forward, stretching its way easily around both of Twilight’s monsters to loom over the girl herself. Its jaws opened impossibly wide, a bright white light appearing inside them. “Sorry!” Twilight smiled. “But that won’t be happening! I reveal my Trap Card, Mirror Force!” Just as the energy beam poured out of the toon dragon’s mouth, a shimmering bubble of semitransparent energy surrounded Twilight. The white light struck hard against it, held there for just a moment… and then exploded outwards. The dragon was annihilated before it had time to blink. The elf women screamed and ran in opposite directions, arms flailing wildly. But arcs of white light coming off of Twilight’s card descended on them both, and they exploded into a million pieces. “My poor Toons!” Pinkie cried as she shielded herself with an arm. “Sorry, but my Mirror Force obliterated all of your monsters, leaving you defenseless!” Twilight folded her arms across her chest and smiled a little. For the first time, Pinkie was frowning slightly. “Fine!” she said. “I set one monster face-down in defense mode and place one card face-down!” “Then it’s my move!” Twilight drew a card. “I switch my Defender to attack mode! Next I’ll equip him with Malevolent Nuzzler, raising his attack by 700 points! Now go my knight!” she pointed. “Destroy her face-down monster!” The armored knight drew his sword and leapt into the air. With a loud battle cry he dropped directly atop the face-down monster card, plunging his blade straight through the center of it. The card shattered at once. “My Toon Alligator!” Pinkie’s frown deepened. “Since it was in defense mode, at least you don't lose any life points," Twilight offered. "Next I think I’ll play one more card face-down and end my turn.” “You keep destroying all of my Toons. My deck won’t be happy about that!” Pinkie warned as she drew a card. “Nope, definitely not happy!” “I think I can take it,” Twilight folded her arms again. “We’ll see about that. I play my Spell Card, Wonder Balloons!" The pages of Toon World flipped, closed, and then burst open again in a spray of confetti. Dozens of balloons of all shapes, colors, and sizes flooded the field. Twilight could barely even make out her opponent through the swarm. "By discarding one card from my hand, I can cut the attack strength of all your monsters by 300 from here on out!" Pinkie explained. "Now, because Toon World is still on the field, I Special Summon my Toon Mermaid!” Toon World opened yet again, and a cartoonish green-haired mermaid within a googly-eyed clam appeared on the field. “And because she was Special Summoned, I can sacrifice her immediately to play my Toon Dark Magician Girl!” The mermaid vanished into Toon World in a flash of white light. The book spun around again, and then shot out yet another monster. This one looked like a young, blonde-haired girl in a slightly-oversized magician’s outfit. She clutched her wand and giggled girlishly. “You remember how I said my Toons couldn’t attack the turn they’re summoned?” Pinkie was starting to smile again. “Well, I may have told a liiiitle fib. Most Toons can’t, but Toon Dark Magician Girl? Not a problem for her!” she pointed across the field. “So attack Twilight directly!” The little magician spun her wand nimbly in her hand and summersaulted high up into the air. Twilight’s knight swiped at her, but she easily bent like rubber to avoid his blade. She popped up directly in front of the purple-haired girl, and brought her wand down atop Twilight’s head as hard as she could. Twilight 2000 Twilight hit the dirt roughly for the second time in the last several minutes. She swore that she could feel a lump atop her cranium, and she knew that she was seeing stars. Toon Dark Magician Girl retreated nimbly, pointing and laughing at the city-slicker’s misfortune. “And I’ll follow up with my face-down card, Shadow Toon!” Pinkie pressed a button on her disk. “My Spell Card lets me pick one monster on your side of the field and do direct damage to your life points equal to its attack! And I pick eneenie meenie minie – your knight! Thanks to your card he has 2000 attack points, so this is the end!” The shadow of Twilight’s monster flickered a moment, and then faded away. In its place came an amorphous shadowy blob with a deformed cartoonish face. It loomed over Twilight. “Now go, Shadow Toon! Wipe out Twilight’s life points!” “Not quite!” Twilight shouted. “Reveal face-down card, Emergency Provisions! This Spell Card lets me sacrifice my other face-down card for an immediate 1000 point boost!” Twilight 3000 “But my card will still eat most of your points! Shadow Toon, avenge our lost!” The shadow plunged onto Twilight, knocking her right back down just as she was getting up. Its hand grabbed her nose and tweaked it before slapping her right across the face. Toon Dark Magician Girl howled with laughter. Twilight 1000 Pinkie’s Toon monster continued to laugh uproariously as Twilight lay sprawled out in the dirt. It even stopped and blew a raspberry down at her. “Hey!” Spike pointed up at her. “Stop that! It isn’t funny!” “Sorry,” Pinkie shrugged a little apologetically. “She can really get into it sometimes. Especially if some of her buddies go to the Graveyard. Anyway, I’ll place one card face-down. Your go.” Twilight, for her part, was rising unsteadily back onto her feet. Her back hurt, her cheek stung, her head was pounding, and her immaculate dress clothes were covered in dust and grass. Her brow was deeply set, and her teeth were grinding. “So, your monster thinks that’s funny, does she?” Twilight’s fists clenched around her cards as she drew. “I try and go easy on you, and your creature finds it amusing when I get hurt?” “Sorry,” Pinkie said, face falling a little. “I don’t think it’s funny, for whatever it’s worth. I can’t stop her from doing that.” Toon Dark Magician Girl blew a raspberry at Pinkie as well. “Well, now I’m irritated,” Twilight brushed some dirt off of her shoulder. “My Royal Magical Library has been collecting Spell Counters since it was summoned, one for every Spell Card either one of us has played since then, until it completely filled up! Since it now has three, I can trade in all of its counters to draw another card!" Twilight drew a card, then grinned at it. "Perfect! Let’s see how funny your toon finds my Breaker the Magical Warrior!” A red-armored knight with a flowing cape appeared on Twilight’s side of the field. He set his shield and brandished his thin sword up at the Toon monster, who just laughed at him. A gem embedded into his forehead armor lit up. “Whenever Breaker is Normal Summoned, he gains one Spell Counter, giving him an additional 300 attack points!” “So?” Pinkie shrugged. “My monster is still stronger.” “So I can sacrifice one Spell Counter on Breaker to destroy any Spell or Trap Card on the field!” Pinkie’s blue eyes widened. “Now go!” Twilight leveled her finger. “Destroy Toon World!” “NO!” Pinkie cried, holding out her hand. The gem on the pommel of the knight’s sword crackled shone brightly. Red energy crackled up and down his sword, which he leveled at the floating book. A ruby-red lance of energy shot out of the thin blade and scored a direct hit on Toon World. The book crackled with red electricity for just a second, then exploded. Toon Dark Magician Girl threw back her head and wailed before exploding herself. “Now, Defender and Breaker, attack her life points directly! End this duel!” Both knights shoved off against the ground and soared across the field. As one, the two magical swordsmen raised their blades. Pinkie crossed her arms in front of her face just as the two brought them down with enough force to send her flying back. Pinkie 0 Twilight panted slightly as the holograms faded away. While she waited for the smoke to clear off, she straightened her tie absentmindedly and brushed some more dirt off of her white sleeves. When the light breeze eventually swept away the smoke, she saw Pinkie lying on her back a good few yards from where she had started. “Uh, Ms. Pinkie?” she reached a hand out, a little uncertain. “Are you… alright?” “That…” Pinkie said from her spot in the dirt. “Was… AWESOME!” Pinkie managed to get back to her feet in a single bound, her face split with yet another wide grin. She seemed not to run so much as abruptly appear in front of Twilight, causing the later to jump. “That was so much fun! First I was all Toons! Then you were all Mirror Force! Then I was all more Toons! Then you were all Knights! And it was so amazing! That’s was the most fun I’ve had in a long time! We need to do it again!” “Uh… you mean you aren’t… sad?” “Sad?! Why would I be sad?! I just had a great duel with the personal student of the princess herself! How much does that happen to you?! I mean, probably never, because you’d have to duel against yourself, but I’m sure you get the point!” “I… think so.” Twilight scratched the back of her head. “I’d love to stay and talk and all but I’ve got a bunch of stuff I Pinkie Promised to do for Mr. and Mrs. Cake this afternoon so I’ve gotta go but I’ll see you again real soon!” Pinkie was already off and running. “Bye Twilight! Bye Spike! Watch out for falling pianos!” “…What?”